Top iOS Games and Apps in November: NetEase’s Battle Royale Titles Among Top Downloads Across All Regions

In November’s Top iOS Games and Apps by Revenues and Downloads, NetEase’s mobile versions of the popular battle royale genre performed well across all three regions, ranking among the top five downloaded games on iOS in the U.S., Europe, and China. Shopping apps also did well in terms of downloads across the board entering into the holiday season.

UNITED STATES: CANDY CRUSH REMAINS HIGHEST GROSSING GAME FOR ITS FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

King continued to reign as publisher of the top-grossing games in November. Candy Crush Saga retained #1 for the celebration of the match-3 game’s fifth anniversary and was joined by its sister-game, Candy Crush Soda Saga, at #2 for the occasion. Bandai Namco’s DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE re-entered the top 20 grossing games at #17 following a two-month absence from the ranking.

Of the top 20 games downloaded on iOS in November, 13 were new titles compared to October. NetEase’s mobile battle royale game, Rules of Survival, entered the download ranking at #2. Nintendo’s popular Animal Crossing franchise made it to mobile recently with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. The game entered the iOS download ranking at #3, demonstrating the cross-platform capacity of the franchise. Words With Friends 2, Zynga’s sequel to the popular 8-year-old game, was released in early November and performed well in its first month, entering the ranking as the #4 most downloaded game on iOS for the month.

Looking at the top grossing non-gaming apps on iOS in November, the ranking was relatively stable with the top nine apps holding their positions. TuneIn Radio had another successful month, moving up four spots in November after previously climbing five in October. YouTube TV was new to the revenue chart; Google’s TV-streaming app made its debut at #13 following the subscription service’s launch in August.

In app downloads, Snapchat moved up by one position, making it the second-most downloaded app in November. Facebook also moved up in the ranking, climbing two spots to #4. The biggest download success for the month was the Amazon App, which jumped from #16 in October to #9 for November. Uber had a less successful month in terms of downloads; the ride-hailing app fell by four positions.

EUROPE: NETFLIX & COLORING ARE THE TOP NON-GAMING APPS

As winter begins In Europe, people are choosing to sit in instead of going out. Netflix took back its crown as the top grossing app, knocking Tinder down to #2. French dating app Adopte Un Mec also fell in the November ranking, dropping two spots to #11. Russian social network app OK was new for November at #20, the first time the app has appeared among the top-grossing non-gaming apps on iOS since June.

Color-by-numbers apps were among the most popular to download in November. Sandbox jumped 13 places to hold the #5 spot while UNICORN was a new title at #15. As shopping for the holiday season kicks off, some shopping apps experienced a successful month in terms of downloads. Wish climbed seven spots to #8 while Chinese shopping app AliExpress was new to the ranking #9.

Moving on to the top-grossing games, Japanese-anime game DRAGON BALL Z DOKKAN BATTLE saw the biggest rise, up by three spots to #10. The top three games were stable, while Gardenscapes and Candy Crush Soda Saga moved up one position each to #4 and #5, respectively, at the expense of Clash of Clans, which dropped by two to #6. There were three new sports-related games in the revenue ranking: Football Manager Mobile 2018, FIFA Mobile Soccer, and Golf Clash at #17, #18, and #19, respectively.

In the download ranking, Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was a new entry at #2, demonstrating the cross-platform success also seen in the U.S. ranking. NetEase’s Rules of Survival was also a successful new entry at #4. Following a good October, Homescapes dropped by nine positions for November. Super Mario Run experienced a similar decline in download popularity, falling from #5 to #15. Candy Crush Saga re-entered the download ranking at #18 for its fifth anniversary. This is the top grossing game’s first appearance in the top 20 iOS download ranking since October 2016.

CHINA: BATTLE ROYALE GAMES FIGHT OFF COMPETITION FOR TOP DOWNLOADS

In China, the three top-grossing games on iOS for November remained the same. It was a good month for NetEase, which published four of the top five games. Its popular mobile RPG Fantasy Westward Journey 2 climbed four spots to #4, followed by Onmyoji at #5, also up four spots compared to October. The biggest mover in November was The Sword of the Archangel H5 (大天使之剑H5), which jumped 10 positions to #7.

NetEase also had a successful November in terms of downloads. The top two downloaded games were both NetEase battle royale titles: Knives Out (荒野行动) at #1 and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (终结者2:审判日) at #2. Tencent’s Cross-Fire was #4 for the month, six positions higher than it ranked in October. Minecraft, which was the #2 downloaded game in October, fell to #10 for November.

For non-gaming apps, Tencent’s QQ series performed well in terms of revenues. QQTV held onto #1 and the Chinese communication app QQ hung in at #4. QQ Reading was up by one compared to October and QQ Music rose to #7. It was a good month for other music apps; Kugou Music gained three positions to #12 and NetEase’s Music app entered the ranking at #15.

WeChat retained its #1 position as the most downloaded non-gaming app in China in November. Below it, the ranking saw a lot of changes. Alipay jumped three positions to #3. Shopping apps Taobao and JD Mobile also saw success, with the former at #2 and the latter rising seven spots to #7. QQ and QQ HD held the #4 and #5 positions, respectively, both up from October. Youku was less popular in November; the video-streaming app was down five spots and its HD version dropped by 11.

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